Mercy
by Raiju
Summary: Having enough of their lives at home, and yearning to find who they really are, Omi and Nagi disappear from Wiess and Schwartz without a word, but being a runaway is more dangerous than it seems. (Rape, abuse, violence, language, death)
1. Chapter 1

Mercy

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By: Ryoko

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Track 00:01:00

***

"Leave me alone!" Nagi screamed, slamming the bedroom door behind him and propping his body weight against it to block out Crawford's assault, and clasping his hands over his ears to avoid the screaming.

He hadn't done anything, nothing at all, but he was still being screamed at for it. All because the man had a fight with the new client . . . he had to take it out on the kid?

"SHUT UP! LEAVE ME ALONE ALREADY! I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING! LEAVE ME ALONE! SHUT UP!" The boy cried, sinking to the floor, while attempting to hold back tears of rage.

He hadn't been able to vent, his anger, for so long, that instead of physically taking it out, he cried. He would never show anyone his tears, so he would have to hold it until the very moment he was alone.

Every single night, he cried. Hurt, tormented by his past, as well as his present. And he was powerless to do anything about it. The pain stabbed through his heart like knives, slicing away his emotions and ripping out every single feeling of happiness he ever thought he could possibly achieve. Not that his life HAD any happiness. The only thing he always wished for was salvation, but that wasn't coming any time soon.

Suddenly, it was quiet. The boy let down his hands, not moving from the door just yet, but listening.

Nothing. It was all so silent . . . Crawford was gone; he wasn't in the house anymore. He couldn't sense Schuldich or Farfarello either, they probably left with him. Just to be sure, Nagi listened closely a second time. Hearing nothing, he lifted himself off of the carpet, stumbling to regain his balance.

Sighing with relief, he wiped his eyes dry with the sleeve of his uniform, and stared blankly at the door.

"I wonder . . . what they would do . . . if I wasn't around . . .?" he whispered to himself, turning to the closet to his left.

All this time he hadn't even bothered to touch the light, nor did he now. The darkness of the room was the only comfort he was going to be getting tonight. Slowly sifting through the few outfits he actually owned, and coming upon what he considered to be pajamas: a t-shirt that was A LOT of sizes too big, and looked like a dress on him. 

Snatching a towel from the top of the closet shelves, he disappeared into the small private bathroom.

The hot water spraying mercilessly on him was of little help to soothe him. Usually a hot shower would help, but it just wouldn't right now.

Feeling defeated, the Nagi sank down to the bottom of the stand-up shower stall, holding himself, like a mother would hold her child, to calm them if they were crying. That's all he still COULD do . . . cry . . . that's all he could do to release the pressure building up inside of him.

You're so pathetic Nagi . . . why do you let those bastards badger you like you do? YOU'RE human too! You should have them respect you like one. He growled mentally, letting down the mental blockades he used to keep the others out of his thoughts. 

I can't keep fighting like this . . . it hurts . . . if I continue at this rate . . . who knows what'll happen to me? I'm so damn vulnerable . . . I just can't stand it! I can't take it anymore. I have to get away. I have to! TONIGHT! 

***

This was such a promise he had to keep.

The boy lay awake in bed, staring blankly at the window, away from the door. Down the hall, he could hear silence. The others had yet to come back, and probably wouldn't until late tomorrow afternoon . . . or whenever Crawford cooled his head again.

At first, Nagi was uneasy about leaving . . . he had no money, not many survival skills left and nobody to turn to. Where could he possibly go? Even THAT was beyond him. After all, since the day Schwartz took him in, he could remember almost nothing on how he survived in that dark world he once lived in, the cruel and cold world he was born in.

Always, he was provided with food, clothing, shelter and companions. Sure, they weren't the BEST that money could buy, but then again, NOTHING, having to do with him, was. At least he HAD them.

Did he want to, now? Did he really want to escape this much?

YES. He DID want to escape, this Hell, that much.

Without another single thought, he threw back the blankets and sat up over the edge of the small bed.

"If you three really need me, as much as you say, to my face, then come and GET me." He growled, reaching into the closet and pulling out a simple outfit of a long-sleeve black shirt and matching black, somewhat baggy, pants, and tugging them on as fast as he could.

"Here goes nothing . . . " he sighed to himself, pulling out a long, black trench coat from the hanger behind his door, and pulling it on.

Sneaking quietly into Crawford's room, he opened the dresser drawer where the man kept his money. Of course, Nagi was the only one that knew this, because it wasn't rare that the boy had to steal money from him for food or clothes. He reached into the jar, grabbing a handful of yen bills and a credit card, and then shoving them into his pocket. Glancing over, he snatched the handgun off of the nightstand next to the bed, dropping that into the trench coat, making sure the safety was on tightly enough.

With less than a sound he made his way down the stairs, slipped on his darker sneakers, and left the building, not planning to return.

***

Game Over?

Continue?


	2. Chapter 2

Mercy

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By: Ryoko

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Track 00:02:00

***

"Kid, kid, kid, kid, kid, kid, KID! That's all I ever GET from you guys! Jesus Christ!" Omi growled, slamming his fists onto the nearest wall. "God damn it! I'm almost SIXTEEN! Isn't that old enough for you to stop referring to me as KID?"

"Whoa, whoa! Slow down! Calm down Omi-kun!" Ken reached a hand out to pull the boy's down from the new crater in the wall.

"I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" he thrashed out again, nearly hitting Ken in the jaw as he turned and ran for his room.

"What'd you two do to him THIS time?" he scratched his head, watching the teenager fly up the stairs. 

"I DIDN'T do it." Aya turned back to the TV. (Strange huh? Him . . . watching TV . . . THAT'S disturbing and unusual *I wonder what he'd watch? X-files maybe? Or Buffy? * . . . )

"He wanted my credit card number to buy something off of the computer . . . I told him he'd have to wait until he was old enough to get his own. THEN I think I called him a kid . . . but I didn't expect him to go all bitchy on me. Sheesh!" Yohji grumbled, kicking his feet up on the arm of the soft chair and relaxing into the leather, while staring blankly at the TV like the redhead a few feet away.

"Well, YOU two aren't much help . . . aren't you gonna go and at least TALK to him?"

"In that mood he's in? Heh, you're joking, right? It'd go in ONE ear and out the OTHER."

"Oh man . . . you know . . . I just don't understand you. Have you no sympathetic side for the kid?"

"Ha! See? There you go! You called him a kid too!" the blonde jumped from the chair, poking Ken in the arm, making fun of him in his own way.

"Thanks a lot, Yohji. I really needed you to point that out, ya know!" the younger assassin pouted, glaring at the ceiling.

***

"Okay, so maybe I WAS a little childish, going off the handle like that . . . but still . . . why do they still call me a damn kid? I hate it. And they KNOW I hate it, more than anything. So . . . why do they keep doing it?" He sank off of the bed onto the carpeted floor, wrapping his arms around his knees, which he pulled tightly to his chest.

He wasn't ready to cry, but his heart was ready to rip itself out. Every time the others put him down like that, unintentionally, it made him feel worse and worse, somewhat driving him to his breaking point. He never expected to explode, the way he did, downstairs. Good thing only those three saw him do that. If it had been in the shop, or while Manx or whoever was there, he would've been humiliated even more than he could even imagine.

The feeling of helplessness stabbed at him again, making him shiver and bow his head down to his knees, forcing back a small stream of tears.

"Yeah, so what if I'm the youngest? There's no excuse. They treat me like a damn CHILD. Only a few years until I'm twenty! C'mon! Ken's only, like, what, three or four years older than me? So how come Yohji and Aya don't call HIM a kid? He's still a teenager! GAH! It just isn't fair!" he groaned, standing at last and turning to the window.

It was so dark out, so dark . . . and quiet. It was somewhat cool, but not cold, and the full moon made the streets almost look like the sun was out.

I'll wait until they're all asleep, then I'll make my escape. 

Suddenly, a wave of uneasiness washed over him.

Running away? Wasn't something like that under even HIS level? No- it was a means of escape from what was- into was is to be. He could survive easily out there, and at the same time, he could prove his worth. It would be a good way to hone his skills in survival. Running away could be one of the ways he'd show how grown-up he was. He could show them just how independent he could be. As if become an assassin wasn't proof enough. This was probably the only opportunity he'd GET to prove himself to them, even if it killed him in the process.

Figuring it'd be awhile before the others went to sleep, he withdrew from his room, locking himself in the bathroom and drowning out his fears and angers with a hot shower. He stood there in silence, closing his eyes and mentally picturing his escape route.

From the shop, he could easy travel alongside the alleyways until he came upon somewhere to stay for the night. From there, as soon as night fell, he would make his way, by foot, to the port city, maybe somewhere in Osaka. With the money he'd been saving up for his car, he could afford several weeks worth of food. It was a lot more than maybe 45,000 yen . . . so it'd be easy to live off of for a while. And when worse came to worse, and he lost the money, somehow, he could always find a good wooded area to go hunting. If it came down to it, he could steal as well. 

So everything would be pretty easy if he left. Of course, he'd have to worry about the other three finding him, especially with their tracking skills and all. He'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

Stepping out of the bathroom, he looked around, listening intently for any sound: nothing but silence.

Seeing that all of their bedroom doors were closed, Omi guess that they'd finally went to sleep, and moved, with the stealth of a cat, to his own room.

Not bothering to turn on the light, he moved to the closet, pulling out his assassin's clothing, but not the gear, hat, or gloves, and darker sneakers, which he's worn to school on occasion.

After suiting up, like a soldier for battle, he reached under his mattress for the small pouch of money; his savings for the car he'd never get.

***

Without looking back, he locked the shop's side door behind him, and started off . . . into the unknown.

Where he was going, what he was searching for, what he was looking to accomplish . . . it was all a blur. But one fact was for sure, now: He was free. All he had to depend on, now, was himself, and nobody else.

***

Game Over?

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	3. Chapter 3

Mercy

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By: Ryoko

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Track 00:03:00

***

It wasn't as hard as he'd imagined it…leaving the apartment building like that. In fact, the second he fled from the doorway, it seemed as though all stress and pressure of leaving, was literally lifted from his shoulders.

For as long as Nagi could remember, he'd carried the weight of the world on his back, without any help whatsoever.

He'd done nothing to deserve it, nothing at all. It really WASN'T his fault he was different from all other people. He was born that way, and it was something he couldn't help. On occasion, he'd caught himself losing control of his powers and destroying everything in sight, but only recently he'd been able to harness the destructive ability.

A streetlight flickering in the distance caught his attention, bringing him back to reality and out of thought.

"Am I right in doing this? In running away from it all?" he mentally slapped himself for having second thoughts. Although, with how far he'd already walked, there was still time to turn back and face Hell once again.

No. I don't wanna go back. He growled, drawing up the collar of the jacket.

)(~ Memory thingy ~)(

"Gah! Stop! STOP! It hurts! Stop! Please! No more!" he cried, getting lashed again with the rawhide whip, across his spine.

"Shut up. I wouldn't have to BEAT you if you'd just LISTENED to ORDERS!" Crawford's stern voice snapped, hitting him again.

Nagi sank down, to his knees, in defeat, holding his arms over his head while crying profusely. "Stop it! It hurts! STOP!"

"Hey, Brad…I…I think you're overdoing it a little…the kid's had enough. Knock it off." Schuldig stepped in, grasping the American's arm tightly.

Just recently, he'd gotten a soft-spot for the kid, since the boy was constantly tortured to no end, kind of like what the German had gone through, himself, as a child.

Letting down his shield of nearly bleeding arms, he looked up at the redhead, who was pushing Crawford out the door, of the bedroom, with all the strength he could muster up.

Schu…why did…? He whimpered softly, trying to stand.

Wait! The man ducked down, just in time to catch the boy as he collapsed back to the floor. Clinging to the assassin's shirt, he blockaded back all of his tears and tried futilely to push away from Shuldig's embrace. What's wrong? 

Since when did you care about ME? Since when did ANYBODY care if I'm in pain or not? 

Since now. Okay? 

You're NEVER like this…what's wrong with you…? 

Nothin'. I just don't like when he beats on you for a stupid reason. Hey, at least he wasn't shooting at you…I think he reserved that for ME. Anyway, you might not want to make any sudden moves…it looks like he kinda clipped some of your nerves…so you're gonna be hurtin. Try a cold shower, that'll bring the swelling down. 

Schu…

Shh." He winked, holding a finger to his lips. I wasn't this nice to you. Got it? It's our little secret. 

)(~ End of the memory thingy ~)(

That was probably the only time Schuldig bothered to be nice to me in front of anyone. I trust the guy a lot, I guess, but he always had that side to him that made me continue to hate him…why DID I hate him…? 

He sighed softly, turning into an alleyway and looking around. An abandoned warehouse? How convenient… without a second thought, he pried open the side door, which had been halfway rotting into oblivion anyway, and stepped into the creaking building. It was colder in here, but at least he could rest. Skimming over the room, the telepath's eyes fell upon a large wooden crate that seemed intact and fairly sturdy.

Guess I'm sleeping there. 

Resting his head on his arm, Nagi curled into a fetal position, tucking his handgun in the gap closest to his reach. Just as the sun was peeking over the horizon and breaking in through the window overhead, he fell asleep, surrendering himself to the darkness that would never offer salvation.

***

A/N: I know that was short, but the next one won't be, I just needed to get a bridge up to connect my timeline sequences…oh yeah, and whoever it was (Sorry, I already forgot your name!) that said Omi was around 17 or something…I kinda looked ALL over the internet and couldn't find ONE website that plainly said OMI IS 17…so I decided to make everyone younger. If you go back and look, I changed the summary, because the day I uploaded this story, FF.Net was being a total bitch…so sorry about that too…I'll try to get my act together soon! Promise! Oh yeah, PS, I'm a HUGE OmiXNagi fan, so we'd BETTER get some yaoi in here…even if it's not a lemon, it'll be close enough! ^_^;

***

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	4. Chapter 4

Mercy

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By: Ryoko

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Track 00:04:00

***

"Damn it. Morning already? How long have I been GONE?" The blonde looked up at the sky, finding darker clouds, threatening him, overhead. "Rain? Aww!" Guess I couldn't have asked for better weather for such a gloomy situation, huh? He mentally kicked himself, looking around at where he actually was.

First of all, he was on the main street, which was starting to fill with people and cars, so he'd have to get off of it soon. And, if he wasn't mistaken, he was pretty close to the Kyoto line…once over that there would definitely be a place to stop and sleep for the day.

Hearing the first car of the day come roaring down the street behind him, he dove into an alley, waiting until the car had passed. It wasn't Yohji's or Aya's…thank GOD.

The boy sighed softly, glancing down the pathway. This wasn't such a good idea…but at least it'll make em MISS me…I hope…maybe this'll get me some respect. 

Without second thoughts, he trotted down the alley toward an open door. Peering in, he saw nothing but rusting old trailer parts, and a lot of open, molding or otherwise, disintegrating wooden crates. They were fairly large, and would probably offer SOME sort of a bed or something to sleep on for the time being.

Assuming it was only an abandoned warehouse, he let himself in, closing and locking the iron door behind him.

A sudden chill ran through his spine, making him shiver as he searched for a way around the trash on the floor. It's COLD in here…maybe I should've brought a coat or something…geez Omi! You baka. Holding his arms as he stepped over a rusting hubcap, the teenager glanced upward toward at the top of a, fairly intact, wooden crate. It was the closest one to the window, so it would offer SOME warmth.

Struggling not to make any loud sounds, Omi crawled onto a smaller box and got a good grip on the crate he was aiming for. Hoisting himself up, he froze, seeing something rather large on top of the box.

Being extra silent, the blonde inched closer, able to identify the shadow as a person, but also a smaller person than himself. Leaning over, he was greeted with a rather cold handgun shoved at his forehead.

"Don't MOVE." The shadow whispered, leaning over and sitting up strait to face him. He did as he was told, since HE was the one that was unarmed.

"Calm down, I'm not here to-"

Shut up! 

"Huh?"

Yeah, that's right. I'm a telepath. So don't even THINK about doing anything stupid. Because I can see it as CLEARLY as YOU can. 

"Hey! Calm down!" Omi raised his hands in submission. "I was just looking for a place to sleep. I didn't mean to disturb you. I didn't know anyone was IN here. I thought this place was abandoned!"

Forget it. The gun was eased down, back to the top of the wooden box. You aren't WORTH my bullets. The person finally let moved enough to let Omi see him in the light of the window. It was another teenager, a younger one, maybe his age-ish, short brown hair, and beautiful dark blue-green eyes. He was very thin, underfed looking, and the clothes he wore looked a little too big.

What are YOU staring at?" the stranger looked up, noticing that Omi would stop gawking at him. "If you're going to try and rape me, then go ahead. I'll make SURE to kill you. 

"Eh?" the blonde felt as if he'd fall over dead at that remark. "I'm not a damn pervert!" he growled in the boy's face.

"I can see that. You aren't dressed like one. And you're too young anyway."

"Gah! AGAIN with the KID crap! Knock it off!"

"What'd I do?"

"Oh…oops…sorry…I didn't mean to fly off the handle again, like that."

"I didn't call you a kid. So do bark at me, or I'll start call you a PUPPY."

"You do…you DIE." Omi was finally relaxing, especially since, now, the gun was on the crate and not at his head. "So…you a runaway?"

"Maybe."

"I am…"

The telepath studied the boy's mind for a second, seeing the reason why he'd run away. "You wanted to declare your own independence."

"Huh? How'd you…sorry…I forgot…you're a telepath…you can SEE those things…"

"That's a HELL of a lot more noble than the reason I ran away."

"Hn?"

"I couldn't take it anymore. I was at my breaking point…and if I'd stayed there any longer, I would've snapped."

"I'm sorry." The older teenager looked away, staring blankly out the window far head of them on the other side of the warehouse. "So…what's your name?"

"Nagi."

"Nice to meet you. The name's Omi." He smiled slightly, reaching out his hand. Nagi blinked dumbly, forgetting for a moment just how to shake hands with someone.

Both sighed heavily, skipping through their own thoughts for a few moments.

"How long have you been gone?" Omi interrupted, once again starting with the interrogation.

"I left last night…not too long ago."

"Same here." He smiled to himself. "So I guess I'm not all alone in this after all."

"I'm not going to stick around with you, if that's what you think."

"Hn?"

"I don't want to stay here with you. I'm leaving as soon as the sun goes down."

"So am I. Why don't we just…stick together anyway?"

"Nope." He looked away, raking a hand through his hair to brush it out of his face. "I'm going it alone."

"Fine…" he grumbled, studying Nagi again in secrecy. "So…what were you doing…before I came here?"

"Until you came in, I was sleeping, pretty soundly. All the noise you were making woke me up."

"Well sor-ry for being human." The blonde said sarcastically, leaning back against the wall and tilting his head to the side. "If you wanna go back to sleep, go ahead. I am, so it'll be quiet." Just as he finished his sentence, he shivered again. "Damn it's cold in here."

Nagi smirked, removing his coat and moving closer to the other boy. "You didn't prepare to thoroughly, Omi. Here. It's pretty warm underneath it." He sighed, handing the jacket over. He inched his body closer until both of their arms were touching, and pulled a little of the coat over himself.

Sitting next to this stranger, Nagi seemed to calm down and ease into sleep a lot faster than before, still holding the gun at his side. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to stick with this guy for a while…after all…he WAS pretty comfortable…and warm too. (^_^; That's our Omi-Kun!)

***

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